Clippers fail to finish quarters strong in close loss to the Hawks

The Clippers could not stop the bleeding to end the second quarter Friday.

They could not find answers at the end of the third quarter, either.

And down just four points with 36 seconds to play, after a furious 10-2 run that turned what appeared to be an Atlanta blowout into another improbable comeback, their mistakes in the closing possessions of the fourth cost them a chance to begin a three-game trip with a victory.

Intent on getting a quick shot to get the ball back before the fourth quarter ended, the Clippers instead were stymied by the Hawks’ switching defense and couldn’t get a shot until Reggie Jackson hoisted a contested three-pointer with 18 seconds to play, a miss that was collected by the Hawks on a night when they outrebounded the Clippers by 11.

Coach Tyronn Lue said he wanted to call a timeout before the possession began, with 36 seconds left, but that officials did not look his way.

“The officiating tonight, we didn’t get a good whistle,” Lue said, also referring to a third-quarter ejection of starting forward Marcus Morris Sr.

The Clippers’ 112-106 loss drops them to 35-34. Morris was ejected after he argued a traveling call. Official Jason Goldenberg whistled Morris for two technical fouls within three seconds, and he stormed off the court, tossing his headband, after finishing four for 12 from the field for 13 points in 24 minutes.

Morris’ ejection wasn’t the only wrench thrown into Lue’s rotation. Backup center Isaiah Hartenstein’s three fouls within his first two minutes in the first half forced starting center Ivica Zubac to play 36 minutes, one off his season high, and he finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, tying Jackson for the team high in points.

Trae Young led the Hawks (32-34) with 27 points.

Down 10 points midway through the second quarter, the Clippers began a 19-2 run featuring six free throws — they took just two in the first quarter — and bookended by Nicolas Batum’s baskets. The first of his two straight three-pointers dropped with 6:16 before halftime and a layup pushed the Clippers ahead by seven with 2:19 to play.

Then they let go of the rope, the Hawks scoring the final eight points of the first half to lead 60-59 at halftime after five straight Clippers misses. From there until Morris’ ejection more than eight minutes later, the teams played nearly even.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue shouts an instruction during the first half.

(Hakim Wright Sr. / Associated Press)

But the Clippers scored only three points in the final three minutes of the quarter after Morris’ exit, and with nearly seven minutes to play in regulation Hawks center and former Chino Hills High star Onyeka Okongwu’s second dunk in as many possessions left Zubac splayed on the court underneath the rim and the Clippers facing an eight-point deficit.

Three empty Clippers possessions later, Kevin Huerter’s three-pointer to beat the shot clock pushed the Hawks’ lead to nine, triggering a Clippers timeout. Two minutes later the Clippers blitzed a second defender at Young, and two passes later Huerter drilled another shot-clock-beating three-pointer to go up 106-96 with three minutes to play, begetting a Clippers comeback that fell just short again at the end.